Bed pad, an automobile seat pad, a pillow or a similar cushionlike item

ABSTRACT

A bed pad, an automobile seat pad, a pillow or a similar cushionlike item having therapeutic effects similar to those of finger pressure therapy, a good airing function and an improved adaptability to the head or waist of the user is provided. A cushionlike item according to the present invention has a series of continuously arranged bag portions containing a large number of stuffing elements of synthetic resin.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a bed pad, an automobile seat pad, apillow or a similar cushionlike item having therapeutic effects similarto those of finger pressure therapy or massage for curing or reducingkinks, or stiffened or sore neck and back muscles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cushions and other cushionlike items such as pillows containing kapok,fibre, cotton, down, wool, buckwheat-chaff, sponge and the like are wellknown. However, such an item is generally accompanied by certaindisadvantages such as absorbing and retaining moisture from the exteriorto become too wet and warm after a long period of use, in the case of apillow, to keep the user's head cool enough to ensure an easy andcomfortable sleep, and providing an unclean condition that can encouragegerms and worms to proliferate. In order to eliminate these and otherdisadvantages, a pillow or a cushion using a mesh bag as a case and anumber of small and short cylindrical plastic elements as stuffing hasbeen proposed. A pillow or a similar item having such a constructiongenerally has a good airing function and can meet the requirements ofcooling the head and of having a height adjustability to provide easeand comfort of users. While such items have an advantage for providingcomfort of easy and good sleep, they do not have any noticeabletherapeutic effects of promoting blood circulation and curing kinks andsore muscles, effects similar to those that can be brought forth byfinger pressure therapy and other physical therapeutic measuresapplicable to muscles and blood circulation.

A driver who has been driving an automobile for a long period of timecan have a heavy fatigue and sore muscles and sometimes can fall in aheavy drowsiness, which will force him or her to pull in a drive-inn forrest and to spend some time until he or she can recover and resumedriving to head for the destination. It would be very advantageous foran automobile drive if his or her car is equipped with a seat pad havingthe therapeutic effects of physically maintaining the driver's posturein the correct position, softening stiffened muscles of the neck, backand waist, promoting blood circulation and preventing excessiveperspiration due to the warm seat by means of a good airing function ofthe seat.

While a conventional bed pad, which is generally made of wool, syntheticfibre or cotton textile and placed between the bed sheet and themattress of a bed, may be good for an easy and comfortable sleep, itdoes not have any therapeutic effects similar to those of fingerpressure therapy of promoting blood circulation and curing kinks noreffects of keeping its temperature and humidity to a level which isrequired to ensure an easy and comfortable sleep.

Differently stated, conventional cushions and other cushionlike itemsare mostly soft cushions and do not have therapeutic effects ofphysically keeping user's posture in good position and promoting bloodcirculation of his or her body that hard cushions can claim theypossess.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a bed pad,an automobile seat pad, a pillow or a similar cushionlike item havingthe effects of promoting blood circulation, curing kinks and other soremuscles similar to those of spot or finger pressure therapy and holdingthe user's posture in a correct position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bed pad, anautomobile seat pad, a pillow or a similar cushionlike item whichcontains short cylindrical stuffing elements having an improved airingfunction by increasing space among them without forming grooves on theouter peripheral surface of the cylindrical elements.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide acushionlike item which is hard and rigid enough to keep itself in a formadapted to hold the head (or the waist) of the user and at the same timeis soft and flexible enough to adjust its height to ensure user'scomfort when used as a pillow by providing composite stuffing elementshaving a high coefficient of friction between one another.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a bed pad, anautomobile seat pad, a pillow or a similar cushionlike item withstuffing of hollow spherical elements of synthetic resin arranged in aplurality of vertical and horizontal rows in order to provide a goodairing function and generate therapeutic effects similar to those offinger pressure therapy in promoting blood circulation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A cushionlike item according to the present invention is characterizedby the item compressing a series of multifunctional oblong bag portionscontaining a large number of small stuffing elements of synthetic resin.

A stuffing element according to the present invention can have a shapeof a short cylinder, a short trigonal prism with rounded edges or ahollow ball of synthetic resin. Such a spherical element may be usedeither independently or connected with others to form a string of beads.

When a cushionlike item according to the present invention is to be usedas a seat pad in an automobile or in a living room, it preferablycontains small hollow balls of synthetic resin or strings of such smallhollow balls of synthetic resin that can provide a comfortable and softtouch to the user and an airing function as well as an effect of spotpressure therapy.

The synthetic resin to be used for a stuffing element according to thepresent invention may be, for example, a hard synthetic resin such asvinyl chloride. Stuffing elements according to the present inventionmade of such a synthetic resin can give a comfortable touch to the bodyportions of the user that come to contact with the elements because ofthe appropriate rigidity and flexibility they possess.

A cushionlike item according to the present invention is alsocharacterized by the item having a large number of short cylindricalstuffing elements contained therein, a number of strings arranged zigzagalong the front and back surfaces thereof and a number of projectionsprovided on the front side thereof for spot pressure therapy, saidstuffing elements becoming rigidly held by pulling said strings to makethe projections firmly standing on the surface of the cushionlike item.

A cushionlike item according to the present invention is alsocharacterized by the item containing a large number of hollow andspherical stuffing elements of synthetic resin, said stuffing elementsbeing connected together with strings to form strings of beads which arearranged vertically and horizontally in the bag of the cushion item inorder to increase its airing function and to avoid extremely unevendistribution of the elements in the bag that can deteriorate the spotpressure therapeutic effects of the synthetic resin balls.

The above objects and other objects as well as the advantages of theprevent invention will become apparent from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seat pad according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the seat pad of FIG. 1arranged on a mattress.

FIG. 3 is a lateral sectional view of the seat padmattress combinationof FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of stuffing elements to be used in a seatpad according to the present invention.

FIGS. 5 through 7 are sectional views of many other embodiments of thecushionlike item according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a cushionlike item according to thepresent invention provided with projections for spot pressure therapy onthe back side of the item.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a projection for spot pressure therapyheld upright on the surface of a seat pad according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional perspective view of a seat pad according to thepresent invention illustrating air cells arranged between bag portionsformed in a row.

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of the arrangement of the air cellsof FIG. 10 and the way in which they are inflated.

FIG. 12(A) is a perspective view of a seat pad according to the presentinvention showing its front side as the pad is fitted on an automobileseat and FIG. 12(b) is a similar view showing its back side.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a projection for spot pressure therapyto be fitted on an automobile seat pad according to the presentinvention.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are perspective views illustrating different embodimentsof the automobile seat pad according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of an automobile seat pad according to thepresent invention rolled up in such a manner that the side on which itsridges are formed is facing outside.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of an automobile seat pad according to thepresent invention rolled up in such a manner that its flat side isfacing outside.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view illustrating an automobile seat padaccording to the present invention folded in two so that it may be usedas a pillow.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view illustrating an automobile seat padaccording to the present invention folded in three portions so that itmay be used as a pillow.

FIG. 20 is an upper plan view of a pillow according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 21 is a partially cut-out perspective view of a pillow according tothe present invention.

FIG. 22 is an upper plan view of another embodiment of the pillowaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a pillow case to be used with a two- or three-folded pillowof the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a schematic perspective view of a cushion according to thepresent invention.

FIGS. 25(a) through 25(c) are schematic perspective views of the cushionof FIG. 24 illustrating three different ways in which it can be foldedto prevent numbness of the user's legs while he or she is sitting on it.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the pillowaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view illustrating the back side of theembodiment of FIG. 26.

FIG. 28 is a partial sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 26.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view illustrating four differently shapedstuffing elements according to the present invention.

FIG. 30 is a schematic illustration of stuffing elements packed in thecase of a cushionlike item according to the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a schematic plan view of stuffing elements according to thepresent invention arranged for use in the case of a cushionlike item.

FIG. 32 is an enlarged view of encircled area A of FIG. 31.

FIGS. 33(a) through (i) are sectional views of one or more than onestuffing elements according to the invention arranged in five differentways.

FIG. 34 is a schematic plan view of stuffing elements contained in thecase of a cushionlike item according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Now the invention will be described in greater detail by referring tothe accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, meshed cloth sheet 1 and meshed clothsheet 2 are stitched together to form a continuous series of oblong bagportions 3 of a bed pad with cloth sheet 1 constituting a flat side,said bag portions 3 being filled with a large number of stuffingelements 5 of synthetic resin. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 6denotes marginal areas of the bed pad to be wrapped around mattress 7(see FIG. 3) and anchored thereto by means of fasteners (sticky tapes)42 so as to cover mattress 7 like a bed sheet.

Bag portions 3 are filled with stuffing element 5 consisting of a largenumber of short cylindrical elements 8a, 8b of synthetic resin and alarge number of trigonal prism shaped elements with rounded edges 9a,9b, both said short cylindrical elements 8a, 8b and said trigonal prismshaped elements with rounded edges 9a, 9b comprising shorter and longerversions (see FIG. 29 for examples of these elements).

When a user lays his or her body on the bed pad as described above, thewell devised composition and the flexibility of the stuffing elementsexert an effect of promoting blood circulation with a slight movement ofthe shoulder, back, waist or legs of the user. The backside or rear ofthe bed pad has a substantially flat surface and a user may use the bedpad upside down if it makes him or her more comfortable.

While stuffing elements 5 of the above embodiment may be connectedtogether by means of a string 11 as shown in FIG. 4 with a view to avoidfree movement thereof before they are filled in a bag portion of theembodiment, such an arrangement is not necessarily required.

FIGS. 5 through 7 show three other embodiments of the bed pad accordingto the present invention, of which FIG. 5 illustrates an embodimenthaving cylindrical bag portions formed continuously by the front (upper)and back (lower) meshed cloth sheets thereof and FIG. 6 illustrates anembodiment having ridges formed on the front side thereof with a spaceprovided between two neighboring ridges, while FIG. 7 illustrates anembodiment having cylindrical ridges formed on the front side thereof.

Since a bed pad according to the invention comprises a large number ofsmall stuffing elements contained therein, it can be easily folded asdesired and can be subjected to washing whenever necessary withoutdeteriorating its quality.

Since a bed pad according to the invention has a good airing functionand excellent therapeutic effects, it can be advantageously used for anaged person who stays in bed without causing bedsores. It can also beadvantageously used in a family having a small child because iteffectively eliminates the urine that has been accidently dischargedinto the bed pad by the child.

A bed pad according to the present invention may be provided with anumber of pieces of sticky tape on its back side as shown in FIG. 8,each of said sticky tape pieces 12 is so designed as to removably hold achip 18 having a protrusion 13 on its top provided with a permanentmagnet 15 to be used for spot pressure therapy when attached to thesticky tape piece to form a projection on the bed pad as shown in FIG.9). Having such a construction, a bed pad according to the presentinvention can be advantageously used as a spot pressure device forcuring kinks of the user in synergism with the effect of the magneticforce of magnet 15.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of the bed pad according to thepresent invention comprising oblong air cells 16 arranged in such amanner that each of said cells 16 is placed between two neighboring bagportions 3 and designed in such a manner that they can be inflated ordeflated by means of pump P which pressurize or depressurize tank 17 asis shown in FIG. 11 to adjust the inner pressure of the air cells sothat the user's body may be supported both by air cells 16 and bagportions 3. Such an arrangement is advantageous in that it avoids asituation where the body is supported by the bed pad by relativelynarrow areas and that it nevertheless has a massaging effect forpromoting blood circulation. Hence such an arrangement may beadvantageously used for an elderly person staying in bed every day as itcan effectively prevent the user from suffering from bedsores andstagnated blood circulation which can be caused as a result of stayingin bed for a long period of time.

FIGS. 12(A) and 12(B) illustrate a cushionlike item according to theinvention designed to be used as a seat pad of an automobile, the itemcomprising a series of continuous oblong bag portions 19 formed bystitching a pair of meshed cloth sheets together and filled with a largenumber of stuffing elements. In FIG. 12, left side A illustrates theseat pad placed on an automobile seat with its front side having ridgesfacing outside, while right side B illustrates the seat pad with itssubstantially flat back side facing outside. With such arrangements, thepad can provide spot pressure at two different level that can beselected in accordance with the physical condition as well as thepreference of the user.

The surface of the back side of the above described seat pad is providedwith a number of pieces of sticky tape 12a, to each of which clip 18a(see FIG. 13) to be used for spot pressure therapy may be removablyfitted. Said chip 18a comprises protrusion 13a at its top provided witha small permanent magnet 15a and a piece of sticky tape 14a at thebottom that corresponds to sticky tape piece 12a. It may be apparentthat the above described seat pad which is originally designed for usein an automobile may be used at any place as a spot pressure therapeuticdevice.

FIG. 14 illustrates another embodiment of the seat pad according to theinvention to be used in an automobile, said seat pad comprising a numberof oblong bag portions 20 formed by stitching two meshed cloth sheetstogether and arranged side by side in vertical direction. The two bagportions 20a formed at the side extremities of the seat pad havedimensions larger than those of the rest of the bag portions with theview of increasing adaptability of the seat pad to the sides of theuser's waist.

FIG. 15 illustrates still another embodiment of the seat pad adapted tobe used in an automobile according to the present invention which hasdimensions which are suitable for supporting just the back of the user.

It should be noted that a cushionlike item according to the presentinvention comprising a number of oblong bag portions which are filledwith a large number of small stuffing elements may be used as a pillowas well as a seat pad for an automobile.

FIG. 16 shows a seat pad rolled up in such a manner that the side onwhich its ridges 21 are formed is facing outwardly, whereas FIG. 17illustrates the seat pad of FIG. 16 rolled up in such a manner that theside on which its ridges 21 are formed is facing inside. As seen fromthese two illustrations, a seat pad having a construction in which twomeshed cloth sheets are stitched together to form oblong bag portionsonly on one side can be utilized in two different ways with differentspecific levels of pressure applicable to the user when rolled up with aview to use it as a pillow. It would be needless to say that it can beused as a seat pad for an automobile when it is unrolled.

An automobile seat pad according to the invention can be fitted to anautomobile seat either by means of a number of strings attached to thepad or by using removable attaching means such as sticky tape pieces orspring hooks.

An automobile seat pad according to the invention can be used as apillow by folding it in two or three segments as shown in FIGS. 18 and19. Also it may be used either independently or where it is contained ina pillow case 22 as shown in FIG. 23.

FIG. 20 illustrates still another embodiment of the pillow according tothe present invention comprising a number of relatively large bagportions 43 arranged horizontally on its upper portion and a number ofrelatively small bag portions 44 arranged vertically on its lowerportion. When it is folded into two along the border line between thetwo portions to form a pillow with ridges facing towards the outside,the pillow will be provided with two sides having different levels ofpressure to be applied to the user's head.

FIG. 21 illustrates an embodiment similar to that of FIG. 20, in which,however unlike the latter, ridges of two different dimensions 44' and43' are arranged in the same direction. As in the case of FIG. 20, suchan arrangement also produces a pillow having two different levels ofpressure selectively applicable to the user's head.

FIG. 22 shows still another embodiment of the pillow according to thepresent invention in which small bag portions 43" and large bag portions44" are alternately arranged on one side of the pillow. When the pillowis folded into two with ridges facing outwardly, the user canselectively obtain different levels of pressure applied to his or herhead only by slightly shifting the position of the head on the pillow.

FIG. 24 illustrates an embodiment of the cushion according to thepresent invention comprising on one side bag portions A forming a numberof semicircular ridges 20 arranged in parallel and bag portions B, C andbag portions D forming a number of longitudinally arranged straightridges 23, of which bags A and B and A and D are respectively detachablyconnected with one another by means of zippers 50 and 50, ridges 20 and23 being filled with a large number of small stuffing elements ofsynthetic resin. Zippers 45, 45' are provided on the other side of thecushion so that the stuffing elements may be taken out by opening thezippers. When this cushion is folded in such a manner as shown in FIG.25(a) so that bag portions B, C and D are over bag portion A, then in amanner as shown in FIG. 25(b) so that bag portion D is lapped on bagportion C and finally as shown in FIG. 24(c) so that bag portions B arelapped on bag portion D, there will be formed a lump 46 that can servefor preventing the legs from becoming numb after long time of sittingthereon.

FIGS. 26 through 28 illustrate another embodiment of the presentinvention which can be used both for an automobile seat pad and apillow, the embodiment comprising a number of bag portions 24 containinga large number of short cylindrical stuffing elements 23. Thisembodiment also includes a number of spot pressure therapeutic chips 25projecting above the surface of the pad and anchored by string 27 to thepad that runs through a pair of through bores 26 of chip 25 formed inits lower portion to connect the chips one another as best shown in FIG.28. String 27 goes into one of the bores 26 of chip 25 located on thefront side of the pad from the lateral side of the chip, comes out ofthe opening of the bore found at the bottom thereof, proceeds to hole 29provided on anchor plate 28 attached to the back side of the pad, goesthrough the other hole 30 of the anchor plate and then through the otherthrough bore 31 of the chip, enters bag portion 24 through eyelet 32 andcomes out through eyelet 33 and then goes into the adjacent chip throughits lateral opening of one of its bores. With such a construction asdescribed above for a seat pad, the projections of the pad formed bychips can be firmly and rigidly held onto the pad by pulling thestrings. Therefore, it will be understood that the level of pressure tobe applied to the body or the head of the user by the chips for spotpressure therapy can be adjusted by altering the degree of tension ofthe strings that hold the chips. It may be advisable that the pad beused with the backside facing outwardly when it is used as an ordinarypillow.

A pillow having such a configuration can be utilized in a manner similarto that of using an ordinary spot pressure therapeutic device. Forexample, the neck may be placed on the pillow so that the back of theneck is pressed against projections of the pillow and then moved backand forth or right and left to administer a spot pressure therapy.Similarly, the back of the body may be placed on the pad so that theback is pressed against the projections and moved in lateral directionswith the body weight being held with the right and the left halves ofthe back alternately.

While a stuffing element of synthetic resin to be used for a cushionlikeitem according to the present invention can take the form of a shortcylinder, a small hollow ball or the like, when a mixture of shortcylindrical elements 8a, 8b and trigonal prisms 9a, 9b with roundededges, each type of element having a longer and a shorter versions, isused as shown in FIG. 29, contact areas between peripheries ofcylindrical elements and trigonal prisms are significantly reduced andthose between peripheries of elements and openings of cylindricalelements are significantly increased. Thus vertically elongated spacesare formed the elements which in turn improve the airing function of thepad and provide an enhanced adaptability to the head and the waist ofthe user's body (see FIG. 30).

FIG. 31 illustrates a upper plan view of stuffing elements which can beused in a cushionlike item according to the present invention. Theelements a large number of hollow spherical elements 34 connectedtogether by means of vertically and horizontally arranged arms to form agridwork 36 of beads. Such a gridwork of stuffing elements may be usedin a bed pad, an automobile seat pad, a pillow or a cushion according tothe present invention either in a single-layer or in a multi-layerarrangement.

An airing hole 35 is formed on each hollow spherical element 34 ofsynthetic resin, which, when the element is compressed under the weightof the user, ejects part of the air that has been contained in theelement to the surface of the body that lies in contact with the pad. Inan embodiment using gridworks of elements as described above, an airinlet valve is provided at each end of the arms of the gridwork in sucha manner that the valves become closed when the spherical elements arecompressed and the valves become opened when the spherical elements arereleased. It should be noted, however, that provision of such air inletvalves is not a mandatory requirement and that air may be introducedfrom an end of each of the arms of the gridworks used in the pad andejected from the hole provided on each of the spherical elements of thegridworks.

A stuffing element of synthetic resin to be used for a cushionlike itemaccording to the invention preferably takes the form of a ball, anoblong ball or a cylinder. Each of the stuffing elements to be used fora cushionlike item according to the invention preferably have differentdimensions so that the cushionlike item contains stuffing elements ofdifferent sizes for the effect of spot pressure therapy.

While the stuffing elements contained in a cushionlike item according tothe present invention are preferably connected to one another in orderto ensure a good passage of air therethrough, they need not necessarilybe assembled into one piece so long as the arrangement of the elementsin the item ensures a good passage of air.

While stuffing elements are assembled into gridworks in the abovedescription and illustrations, they may take different forms of assemblyand a plurality of such assemblies may be used in a multilayerconstruction in order to obtain a desired height for the item.

While a gridwork to be used for a cushionlike item is generally formedin one piece, it may also be formed by combining different pieces asillustrated in FIGS. 33(a) through 33(i), each of which consists of asingle element or a plurality of elements that comprise arm members thatcan be connected with one another to form an assembly as shown in FIG.31.

The connecting arm members illustrated in FIG. 32 consist of twodifferent types, thin arm members 37a and thick arm members 37b thelatter of which can be engaged with thin arm members 37a such that theycan be connected with one another to form a long and large assembly.

While a stuffing element can have two arm members as shown in FIG.33(f), four arm members as shown in FIG. 33(a) or six arm members asshown in FIG. 33(e), an element having a large number of arm members maybe advantageously used because any unoccupied arm member(s) can provideairing holes and a cushionlike item containing such elements may beprovided with an improved airing property.

A cushionlike item according to the present invention can be formed byfilling it with stuffing pieces of the type as illustrated in FIG. 31 orwith a mixture of such stuffing pieces and stuffing elements having aconfiguration of short cylinder and those with a configuration oftrigonal prism as shown in FIG. 29. The item may also be formed byfilling it with a mixture of stuffing pieces as shown in FIG. 31 andthose shown in FIGS. 33(a) through 33(i) or any known filling materials.When a cushionlike item is filled with stuffing pieces of the type asshown in FIG. 33 in combination with short cylindrical stuffingelements, the item can exert an excellent effect of spot pressure ormassage therapy for curing kinks and sore muscles.

APPLICABLE INDUSTRIAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

As apparent from the above description, since a cushionlike itemaccording to the invention is provided with a number of ridges formed onits surface with or without projections and filled with stuffingelements of synthetic resin, it has an excellent therapeutic effect ofpromoting blood circulation and curing kinks and sore muscles as well asa desirable property of providing good airing and also has adaptabilityto both the user's head or waist, providing a wide range of applicationsin the field of bed pads, automobile seats, pillows and cushions.

What is claimed is:
 1. An item for use as a cushion such as a bed pad,an automobile seat pad, a pillow, a cushion and the like having a frontsurface and a back surface, both surfaces being made of a meshed clothmaterial, the item comprising a plurality of parallel and generallycontiguous continuously arranged, generally elongated bag-like bodieseach containing a large number of stuffing elements of hard syntheticresin, the front surface of the item being a series of ridges formingundulated convex portions and the back surface of the item beingessentially flat.
 2. An item for use as a cushion according to claim 1wherein said bag-like portions are formed from meshed cloth materialstitched to another meshed cloth material.
 3. An item for use as acushion according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of pieces of stickytape are secured in a fixed space relation to the back surface and atleast one chip is removably secured to one of the pieces of tape by apiece of tape secured to the chip, the chip including a protrusion withone end with the tape secured thereto and an opposed end having a magnetthereon.
 4. An item for use as a cushion according to claim 1 wherein atleast one of the bag-like bodies is larger than the other bag-likebodies.
 5. An item for use as a cushion according to claim 1 wherein anelongated air bag is mounted between two adjacent bag-like bodies, saidair being capable of receiving air from a pump and capable of exhaustingair such that the air bag can be repeatedly expanded or contracted.